


You Looked So Good In Green

by Tortellini



Series: Inktober/Fictober 2k19 [14]
Category: Swamp Thing (TV 2019)
Genre: Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Cute, Developing Friendships, F/M, Fictober 2019, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Inktober 2019, Male-Female Friendship, Rare Fandoms, Rare Pairings, Relationship Study, Science, Science Experiments, Small Fandom, Song Lyrics, Songfic, Strangers to Friends, Wordcount: 500-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 04:03:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21247166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tortellini/pseuds/Tortellini
Summary: Inktober/Fictober 2019 Day 14: OvergrownFandom: Swamp Thing (DC)Alec Holland is fingernails lined with dirt, ugly sandals. Abby Arcane is raised eyebrows and bright eyes. Even if they don't know each other for very long...it feels like a lifetime. Character/relationship study.Oneshot





	You Looked So Good In Green

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mondhase](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mondhase/gifts).
  * Inspired by ["Green"](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/530969) by Cavetown. 

_This is erosion  
Grinding up rocks with your molars_

The dirt underneath Alec Holland's fingernails has been long forgotten about, but the pain from the way he's hunched over will make itself known in a couple hours, even after he stops all of this. Some people might say he's crazy for being out in the swamp as it's getting dark. You know what? He'd agree with them. Scoff easily, eyebrows shooting up, rolling his eyes. And yet he's not going to stop anytime soon either. 

This work--his work, his research--it's way too important. So he'll stay out here in the dark and the muck and keep going.

_A big fish swims past your rod  
You can’t catch it, it’s far too fast_

Abigail "Abby" Arcane is not too pleased with whatever the hell she's trying to do either. The disease that she's trying to eradicate is getting worse. Doctors rush around her, and she has a different motivation from them. They're trying to find a cure for this thing, sure, but so they can get credit for it. So they can become famous or something. 

Abby thinks of the little kids lying in the cots that they call beds. How bony and waxy they are. How wide their eyes are...and how long left they have to live without a cure. That's why she does this. 

It's frustrating though, because a part of her wants to be the best too. She might be a good person with good motives, yeah, but she's human too, there's nothing wrong with admitting that. 

One day things will be different. She'll have found a cure for these people, these kids, and they'll be all right. She'll have made something of herself too. 

_Deep hook marks in rubber lips_  
I see your eyes in the flowers  
I’ll pick a bunch for your room  
Green and blue to match your pictures  


"Who are you again?" Abby blurts out blankly, looking at the man in front of her. His sleeves are rolled up, revealing freckled, hairy arms. There's dirt underneath his fingernails; his eyes are an intelligent grey, but there's something else about them too. Maybe it's because they have laugh lines. 

Maybe it's the fact that he's wearing weird-looking sandals. Abby has to hear who the hell this is. 

"Uh, Holland," The guy says. "You know, like the country?" 

Abby blinks, and turns away. Okay, "Holland", whatever you say--and that was her first official meeting of Alec. 

It's only maybe a few hours or so, which might seem weird to an outsider, but he becomes a constant very quickly. In her line of work, not a lot of people who she doesn't immediately recognize know what they're doing. He's one of the exceptions. When he speaks, his voice is surprisingly not deep like Matt's. It's not necessarily intimidating either; it's fast and impatient and he makes sharp jokes, snarks. She doesn't know where he came from but--

She likes him. 

"You okay?" He finds her when there's a quiet time. Her shoulders are stiff; she's been at this for awhile, she knows this is a hard job, but her shoulders are stiff. It's not like he asks her like she's someone who needs to be looked after either. He's not like that. In fact, he called her 'Dr. Arcane' until she said he could call her Abby. It's something small but in this line of work it matters.

He talks to her like she's his equal. And she is. 

"I'm fine." Work's a lot sometimes. She knows he can tell. 

He nods. "Yeah, okay. I am too." But his voice is tight; he's thinking the same thing. 

Their shoulders brush together. 

_You looked so good in green_  
_I hope you’re well_

Alec can close his eyes and remember those days. They're perfect blips in his memory. Sure, there were things that weren't too good with them either. But the good outweighs the bad.

_And you look so good with him_  
_And I’m proud of you still_  
_I miss your perfect teeth_  
_I was too blunt_  
_I hope you feel happy_  
_That’s all I want_

He remembers everything else too though. He remembers what it felt like for a handful of bullets--yeah, real actual bullets, that's not a figment of speech or something--ripping through his shirt and into his chest. He remembers the feeling of the swamp guck seeping into his hair and getting into his mouth. He remembers it being hard to breathe, and even when his eyes did end up drifting shut, the lights of the fire on the swamp dancing like fucked up fireflies. 

He remembers things before he dies. He remembers Abby and he's comforted. It doesn't do anything to save him, but it's something, right? Like an angel coming to him in his last hour of need. 

He remembers her smile--shy, hesitant, but beautiful when he manages to coax it out. He remembers her laugh. He remembers how smart she is. He loses consciousness thinking of her. 

_Mess in the kitchen_  
_I was so disappointed_

For one thing, hold on a second: Alec Holland isn't dead. Everyone looks at Abby like she's various levels of crazy but she doesn't believe it. She sees something out in the swamp that one night, that godforsaken night smelling of fire and mud and death--and it's not human, and it scares her, but it helps her believe somehow. 

But if it's Alec, Alec is human. But this-this thing, from the swamp, it's decidedly not. 

Whatever it is, she gets a little frantic trying to...find some way of helping him. Too bad his lab is organized in only a way he can under

_I guess I got to my head_  
_And I was too young to understand it_

__She sees him again and he's not the man she remembers. He's not even a man, no joke. She doesn't understand it even. But she's not afraid either and that sounds weird but it's the truth. 

_I get it now that it’s too late_  
_I never stopped feeling guilty..._


End file.
